The Vetor project says it has documented at least 319 cases since 2022 in which Russian servicemen with severe injuries were sent back to the front before completing rehabilitation.
In 218 publications, the servicemen had already returned to the combat zone. The remaining cases involved plans or threats to send them back.
The sample includes both cases of coercion to return to the front, which account for more than 80% according to the project, and situations in which wounded servicemen with disabilities or incomplete treatment went back of their own accord. Vetor notes that the real number of such cases may be significantly higher.
Individual cases
As Vetor found, Ivan D. from Yekaterinburg signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry in 2023, and a year later suffered a severe shrapnel wound to the leg. After surgery, he could move only with crutches, but instead of continuing treatment he was returned to his unit.
In March 2025, Ivan suffered a second injury: shrapnel damaged his kidney and intestines, part of which had to be removed. A military medical commission declared him temporarily unfit for service.
Later, Ivan was declared absent without leave and a criminal case was opened against him. In December 2025, he was taken to a reserve battalion in Yenakiieve, and then, despite being referred to a military medical commission, was sent to the combat zone near Pokrovsk. After that, he stopped communicating and has been listed as missing since December.
A similar case, according to the project, involved 32-year-old Daniil K. After being seriously wounded near Pokrovsk, with fractures and injuries to his spine and pelvis, doctors declared him temporarily unfit for service. However, in December 2025, military personnel took him from a temporary deployment point where he had arrived to undergo a military medical commission. A few days later, his family was told that Daniil was
, and by January 7 he was listed as missing."back in formation"
In a number of cases, entire groups of wounded servicemen were involved. For example, in August 2025, at least 14 servicemen from the Chelyabinsk region, who had been prepared for discharge because of their injuries, were sent to an assault near Novoselivka in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk region. According to Vetor, the group included people with injured arms, men on crutches, and one serviceman with a metal plate in his head.